


Have A Holly, Jolly Christmas

by QueenOfNewOrleans22



Category: Bon Jovi (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Hanukkah, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28303092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22
Summary: Everybody was sleeping, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.Except, of course, for a curly-haired man, whose panic was stirring, and getting quite bad.
Relationships: Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora
Comments: 14
Kudos: 14





	Have A Holly, Jolly Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't slept in awhile, and you can tell.  
> Merry Christmas, or, to people who don't celebrate it, have a great day.

Everybody was sleeping, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. 

Except, of course, for a curly-haired man, whose panic was stirring, and getting quite bad. 

" _Oh God!"_ David sat straight up and over balanced, falling to the floor with a thump that could undeniably heard throughout the apartment, and probably through the building. He narrowly avoided cracking his head on the table, but didn't stay for long on the floor, too keen on panicking to take the time to consider the purple-ish bruise that was blossoming on his shin. 

From the bedroom, the light flicked on. "There better be a good reason for interrupting my sleep!" Alec yelled, his figure a mere shadow on the wall. 

"For once, I agree." Tico muttered as he rubbed his eyes, rechhed over, and flicked on the light, bathing the living room in a faint glow. He glanced at David, who was fluttering around like a nervous butterfly, and then frowned, looking deeply confused by the sight. 

"I forgot, I forgot, I forgot!" David grabbed his jacket from the coat rack and slipped it on, nearly falling as he tried to put his shoes on without anything to hold on to. "I fucking forgot and it's three in the morning!" He bent down to tie his shoelaces and fell onto his backside. 

Jon emerged from the cocoon that he'd buried himself in. "This is it." He said quietly, and in a too-soft tone. "I'm going to kill him this time." Jon nodded at the words, as if agreeing with his own statement. 

"What is going on?" Alec came into the living room, glancing at each of his friends before settling on David, who was still trying to tie his shoelaces but kept failing.

"Good question." Tico tossed his blanket aside and stood up. "He might be sleepwalking again." 

Just as those words came into existence, David lunged to his feet, stumbled, and fell again. "IforgotIforgotIforgot." He repeated, like he was stuck on an endless, broken record, and doomed to repeat it forever. 

"I don't care if he's asleep." Jon said. "I'm still gonna kill him." 

Alec tilted his head, disgruntled. "Every day, I regret joining this band." He said. 

"Dave, Buddy, what's happening?" Tico asked, forever the mediator. 

Startled, and quite frankly, still dazed with sleep, David whirled around, and stared at all of them. "Oh. When did you guys wake up?" He asked. 

Jon jumped from his chair and attempted to lunge at David in order to either strangle him or bash his head in. Alec barely managed to grab him around the waist to hold him back and avoid the rather nasty result of having to find another keyboardist. 

"We woke up when you started babbling like an idiot about how you forgot something." Tico answered. 

"Wha - _ooohhhhh."_ David nodded in understanding as it dawned on him. 

Alec deposited Jon in the kitchen. "You stay there." He said to Jon, and then - "I don't understand why I'm awake, though." He said, either to David or Tico. 

"OKAY. _Sooooo,_ I forgot to buy presents. Because I usually don't get people presents unless its for a birthday, so, yeah." David shrugged, chuckling softly, and then his face went slack, and then he unlocked the door, tossed it open, and ran out into the hallway, his footsteps pounding on the floor. 

A moment or two passed in relative silence, contemplative and rather awkward. 

"Who's gonna go give him the car keys?" Tico eventually whispered, like it was some grave secret. 

They all glanced at each other, as if in unsaid conversation. 

Alec sighed, and his shoulders went slack. "Okay, fine, whatever. Just let me get my shoes." 

"And I gotta use the bathroom." Tico said, disappearing into the hallway. 

Left standing alone in his spot, Jon walked into the living room, and kicked the couch. "Richie." He said. "Wake up." 

A muffled groan came from underneath the thick blanket, and a hand appeared, slapping at Jon's legs. "Lemme sleep." Richie said, his words slurred. 

"Like Hell. You're gonna suffer with me." Jon kicked the couch again, and then lowered his voice. "C'mon, Rich. We gotta run to the store, and 'Lec isn't gonna trust you all alone." 

"I'm sleeping!" Richie replied. 

Jon sighed. "So was I." He proceeded to rip the blanket off, and Richie shrieked as the cold air hit his skin. 

"Fine, but you owe me big time for this." Richie muttered, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest to conserve his body heat. He looked around the room, making a face as he took in the sudden lack of people. "Where's Tico and Dave?" He asked. 

\----- 

"Stop touching me!" 

"It's a tiny car. Trust me, if I didn't have to touch you, then I wouldn't." 

"Does anybody have a lighter on them?" 

"No, nuh-uh. My lungs are bad enough without you smoking in an enclosed space with me." 

"Stop being a baby, will you? Somebody? Lighter?" 

"No, no, I agree. You can wait." 

"How long until we get there?" 

"Five minutes." 

"Can you - I'm sorry, can you just move your leg? I feel suffocated in here." 

"You've riden in here before!" 

"Not in the backseat, I haven't." 

"Oh, shit, I forgot my jacket!" 

"How could you forget your jacket?" 

"I was in a panic!" 

"Whatever, we're not going back now." 

\------ 

By the time they managed to reach the store, about ten minutes later than originally intended, Jon was pulling his hair out and Tico was seriously considering just dropping them off at the store and going back to Alec's apartment to dive under the warm blankets.

"Teek, it's not worth it." Richie said, poking his head out from between the two front seats. "It's just gonna make the trip longer." He looked solemn. 

Alec was sulking because Tico had yelled at him. David was picking at his nails and pretending that he didn't exist. Jon was still pulling his hair out. 

"It _is_ worth it." Tico whispered determinedly back, not taking his eyes off the street as he carefully navigated it. "That last parking spot was too far away." He circled the parking lot, glaring at each and every car, urging for them to move. 

"Just listen to him, Rich. He's too far gone to be pulled out now." Alec dismissed, reaching over and turning on the radio, only for his hand to be readily smacked away by Alec. "Ow, man!" 

"The driver handles the radio." Tico said. 

Alec peeled his upper lip back. " _The driver handles the -_ _AHHHHHH!"_ He used a high-pitched voice as he began to mock Tico, but his words broke off in a scream as, with zero hesitation, Tico made a quick illegal U-turn and stabbed the gas, sending them propelling towards an empty space. 

For a moment, there was only panic - Richie frantically grabbed onto Jon, David screamed and covered his eyes, and Alec considered his life choices and what led him to this moment. Tico was steely-faced as he narrowly dodged another car and slid smoothly into the parking space, spitting gravel from underneath the tires of the car. 

Silence followed the moment, with the distinct sound of horns ringing throughout the air as the other car berated Tico, and a few other shoppers looked begrudgingly impressed. 

Gasping for breathe as he undid his seatbelt, David pressed his hand against his chest and felt his heart doing cartwheels. "That was fucking _AWESOME!"_ He grinned joyfully, like this was the best present he ever could've asked for, until, of course, David turned and saw that he was being glared at quite evilly.

"Oh, well, um - let's go, shall we? It's freezing." David laughed uncomfortably before opening the door and falling onto the ground, quickly scrambling up afterwards. 

\--- 

Yet again, Alec was left to closely consider his life choices as he followed Tico with his arms crossed and the distinct feeling of sleepiness whipping through his body at light speed. 

Two minutes ago, David had left with a pep in his step and a well wish, before disappearing into the crowds of people, never to be seen again - or, at least, Alec hoped. 

Tico, apparently, didn't trust Alec by his lonesome, and was now making the bassist follow him through a body care store as he paid particularly close attention to the cologne. "I need something good for myself." Tico said without being asked, peering at the label of a bottle. "A little congratulations for not killing all of you." 

"Congratulations." Alec said dryly, rolling his eyes as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat and bounced on the balls of his feet, bored out of his skull and utterly exhausted. 

"Why is this all in French? How about a little Italian?" Tico was talking to himself again. "What's wrong with a little _La fragranza del corpo maschile_ , huh?" He scoffed, shaking his head. 

Alec frowned. "Is that even Italian?" He asked. 

"Yes, and you should know!" Tico waved his finger and then looked up, up, up, at the shelves that lingered above his head tauntingly. He scowled as the sight of his favorite cologne caught his eye, noticing that the clerks had changed its location, and it was now several feet off the ground. 

Tico stared at it for a moment. "Alec?" 

Nothing. 

"Alec?" Tico repeated. 

Not a word. 

The drummer turned around, a question on his tongue, but it was all forgotten as he realized that the bassist was nowhere in sight. 

" _ALLLLEEEEC!"_

_\--_

"Did you know that reindeer are a natural source of nutrition for the Inuit people?" 

"Yeah." 

"Did you know that lillies are toxic to cats?" 

"You bet." 

"Did you know - _ohmygoddidyouseethat?"_

Jon paused mid-step. "No, I actually didn't." He said, and he turned around and came face to face with a guitar. A Kramer, too be exact, pitch white and with a glaring price tag. "Richie, don't." 

"But it's beautiful." Richie said, practically making heart eyes at the thing. "It's like - like, a star, in the night sky, shining." He fell to his knees before the guitar, like a man at prayer. 

"I thought we agreed that you'd only talk to me like that." Jon said, not even bothering to return the glare that he was given by a woman who was passing by. 

"But she's beautiful." Richie moved foward. "I must touch her." 

"No." Jon said sternly. 

"But I must." Richie slowly reached out, his eyes wide and mouth agape, fingers shivering as they approached and hovered uncertainty above the guitar before, so lightly that it was almost like a butterfly's touch, gently pressed his fingertips against the chrome. "She's smooth." 

"Dear God." Jon looked away and then tilted his head up towards the sky, wondering it if was even worth it. "It's a _guitar._ And we don't even have the money for that." 

"You do." Richie was stroking it. "You just got your paycheck." 

"I spent half of it on your Christmas gift and I gave the other half to David so he could get presents for us. Now get up and c'mon. I'll buy you a dippin' dots." Jon stepped away, hoping that the enticing offer would lure Richie to him, but it was no dice. 

Richie didn't even blink. "I gotta have her. This - this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He whispered, and then he paused, almost as if in thought. "Well, besides you." 

"Thanks." Jon rolled his eyes again. 

"You kinda look like her." Richie said. "You're both so - so _beautiful."_ He sounded like he was near tears. 

Jon huffed. "I'm flattered. Who wouldn't like being compared to a guitar?" 

"I need her. I'm not leaving without her." Richie stood up and he stormed into the store where the guitar was on display as Jon jogged after him, determined to deter him from it. 

\- 

David wasn't exactly sure what he was doing - after all, he had never bought gifts for Christmas before. Normally, all he had to do was light the Menorah and eat some food before calling it a day, but now, he was having to choose things for four separate people with very differenr tastes, and he was really confused, because there were so many possibilities, and he had forgotten to ask Tico if he'd already bought Richie new strings for his guitar and he'd forgotten to ask Alec if he'd bought Jon that new coat and - 

Pausing, David forced himself to take a long, deep breathe. ' _It's okay. It's just a few gifts.'_ He thought, but the thought wasn't very convincing. 

\- 

"Alec! Alexander John Such, you come to me right now!" Tico couldn't believe that he'd managed to lose Alec as he shoved his way through the crowds of people with force that was becoming of him. He had lost David plenty of times, but Alec? It was almost laughable, except Tico was trying not to cry. 

The possibility of finding Alec amongst the crowds was low - he blended in quite easily, and Tico couldn't see above anybody's heads, so he did what he had to do, and found a security guard lingering by a pretzel shop. "Yes, sir?" The guard said. 

"I'm looking for my friend. His name is Alexander John Such, but he only replies to 'Alec' and 'Asshole'. He has black hair and brown eyes and is 5'9 and 155 pounds."" Tico pulled his wallet out from his jacket pocket and thumbed through all of the photos he had in there.

_Richie, Jon, David..._

"This is him." Tico shoved the photograph into the guard's face. "He is mean and aggressive but he wouldn't hurt anybody - intentionally, anyways. That one time was an accident because - well, the other guy started it. Anyways, please lock the whole mall down. He was wearing-"

"Sir." The guard stared skeptically at the photograph. "How old is your friend?" 

"He's thirty-two." Tico replied without hesitation. 

The guard seemed to deflate, like a balloon that'd been untied and let loose. "Well, sir, I hate to break this to you, but we only lock down the store for children and the elderly. Is your friend mentally disabled in any way, shape, or form?" 

"No." Tico said. 

"Then I can help you look for them, and we can go to my office and call for him over the speakers, but other than that, we just gotta hope for the best." The guard replied. 

"Excuse me, but do you know how many abductions happen on Christmas Eve, no, in the entire month of Devember and in malls? You should, because there are several. It's a prime time for kidnapping, murder, and - " 

\-- 

"Richie, please, please, please, please." Jon hated begging, he really did, but he couldn't let Richie get this goddamn guitar. "I'll buy you two dippin' dots and we can - we can - um." Jon winced. "Do whatever you want! I'll follow you, won't say a word, just please, _please,_ don't buy this guitar." 

"And why not?" Richie asked as he turned around, hands on his hips. 

"Because it's overpriced! In a month, it'll be thirty dollars and you can buy it, but for now, we gotta save up. And you already have two guitars!" Jon was scrambling for every and any safety line available that was being thrown at him. 

Richie paused just as he turned to walk toward the counter. He appeared to be in a mental battle with himself, torn between everything and everybody that he loved most - Jon, dippin' dots and guitars. "Three ice creams." He whispered. 

"Deal." Jon patted his wallet, knowing that it was going to be a long night. 

"Okay, then! What was you waiting for, slow poke?" Richie was out of the store before Jon had the chance to even turn around. 

-

David sighed as he walked throughout the mall, his feet beginning to ache and his arms beginning to burn with the effort of holding all of the bags that he'd accumulated during the past two or so hours. 

A glance at his watch told David that it'd been three. 

He didn't like shopping in general, but shopping with a _purpose?_ Terrible. 

But David had managed to buy everything, and all he needed to do now was find the other guys so that they could go home and back to sleep. 

As David walked past a series of vibrating chairs, he paused, confused, maybe a little exasperated, wondering if he was delirious after so much time going by with only shelves and trinkets to keep him company. But then David turned around, and it became clear that it was no hallucination. 

Alec was laying on one of the chairs, curled up in a little ball, looking content as could be. He was using his jacket as a pillow, and was smiling softly, as if enjoying himself deeply, in a way beyond words. 

The sight wasn't normal, and it took David a minute for it to process in his brain. 

\---

"Al - Alec, is that you?" 

"Yes, Tico. It's me." 

"What are you doing out here?" 

"I got kicked out." 

Without another word being passed between them, Tico ran forward and enveloped Alec in a tight hug, swaying slightly in the wind. 

David stared, unsure, a little frightened. 

\--

By the time they managed to figure out where Richie and Jon were (in the bathrooms, arguing over whether or not it was sanitary enough to do the unmentionable) there was a security guard following them around, and there was a silent, mutual decision to get put of the mall and back to the apartment, where they would all hopefully go back to sleep under their warm blankets and pretend that this whole thing had never happened in the first place. 

David was shuffling under the weight off the bags, refusing to let anybody help him under the grounds of them peeking. Tico was practically dead on his feet after his previous ordeal. Richie was humming as he finished the rest of his dippin' dots. Jon was leaning against him, wondering if it was too late to find anofher band Alec was falling asleep again, and had to be dragged out of the car by his legs.

But then the apartment felt stupidly warm (looked like the heater was working again) and they were shedding their shoes, not even bothering to remove their coats before falling back into their respective places, except Richie and Jon were on the same chair this time and Alec was on the floor. 

\-- 

Christmas morning came without warning. 

David perched on the back of a chair, watching with sharp eyes, having rejected the idea of presents but very excited for his friends to open their own. Alec was drinking copious amounts of coffee, seemingly from anxiety, but sat down anyways. 

"Okay. This is from me." Tico said as he gave Alec a small square box, which held within it a watch that he'd, apparently, bought from a thrift shop. 

"For a _bargain!"_

Alec smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, buddy. This is...nice." 

"And this is from me!" David tossed a balled-up shirt, following closely by a pair of pants, at Alec, who narrowly managed to catch it and unroll it to see that it was a t-shirt with a graphic design of a gingerbread man who's leg had been eaten. ' _OH SNAP!'_ Was emblazoned on the shirt, and the pants had similar designs. 

Alec gave Tico a new set of drumsticks in-between angry glances at his watch. 

"Oh, wow." Tico said. "Thanks, man. I needed a new pair." He said, but the words distorted into a yell as David aimed and threw a book, hoping to toss it onto the floor but ending up hitting Tico in the back of the head. 

"Ow." Tico muttered, but he nonetheless grabbed the book and smiled. It was a book about drumming techniques, and although he already knew half of the ones that were printed onto the back of the book, he wasn't about tell David that. "Thanks, buddy." 

It was Jon's turn next, and as David sent his new cost flying through the air, Richie got up and came back a new notebook and pen set. "Thanks, Rich." Jon said. "And thank you, David." He sent an appreciative glance at his new coat as Richie mumbled about how now he could stop complaining about how cold it was. 

Jon stood up and, just like Richie had, disappeared down the hallway, but he didn't appear again for a few tense minutes. Alec glanced at his new watch just as Jon reappeared, carrying a guitar. 

_The_ guitar. 

Richie's eyes widened, and he paled dramatically. "Holy shit." He whispered. 

"Yeah." Jon said. 

" _Holy fucking shit."_

Jon nodded. "That about sums it up." 

David winced, and looked down at the small box of picks before shoving it in between the couch cushions. 

Nobody had to know, right? 


End file.
